Top 5 stats that highlight Nikola Jokic's stellar MVP season
Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets was recently named the 2021 NBA MVP. He won the award for the first time in his career and is only the fifth international player in NBA history to win it. The Joker is also the first center to win the award since Shaquille O'Neal in 2000.
He is unlike the traditional NBA big man as he doesn't post up in the paint and muscle his way to the basket. Instead, he methodically exploits the holes in the defense like a point guard.
Just like any other MVP, Nikola Jokic enjoyed a scintillating individual season in the NBA.
This article takes a look at five astonishing stats from Nikola Jokic's MVP season.
#1 Nikola Jokic is the first Nugget to win NBA MVP
There are eight franchises in the NBA that have never had a league MVP. The Denver Nuggets were one of them until Nikola Jokic was named NBA MVP for the 2020-21 season.
The Joker was drafted by the team in 2014 and has been one of their best players since then. He led the Nuggets in win shares for the sixth consecutive campaign while leading them in points, assists and rebounds this season.
This season, Nikola Jokic led the league in win shares, field goals, offensive win shares, Player Efficiency Rating, Box plus/minus, among several other categories.
Averaging 26.4 points, 10.8 rebounds and 8.3 assists per game while effectively shooting 60% from the field, he led the Denver Nuggets to the third seed in the Western Conference.
#2 First Serbian to win NBA MVP
Several Serbian players have plied their trade in the NBA. The league currently has six active players from Serbia - Nikola Jokic, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Boban Marjanovic, Aleksej Pokusevski, Alen Smailagic and Nemanja Bjelica.
The Joker is the first Serbian to ever win the NBA MVP award. As mentioned earlier, he is only the fifth international player to win it, joining Hakeem Olajuwon, Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki, and Giannis Antetokounmpo in the elite group.
#3 First second-round draft pick to win NBA MVP
NBA MVP award winners are usually the cream of the crop and often come from the highest draft picks. However, Nikola Jokic is the first second-round pick in NBA history to win the MVP award.
Not only is Nikola Jokic the first second-rounder to win the award, but he is also the lowest draft pick ever to win it.
Nikola Jokic was selected as the 41st pick in the second round of the 2014 NBA draft. Ironically, there is no official footage of the Serbian getting drafted that night because the broadcast was showing a Taco Bell commercial at the time of his pick.
#4 Most assists by a center not named Wilt Chamberlain
Wilt Chamberlain holds the record for the most assists by a center in a single season in NBA history. He had 8.6 assists per game in the 1967-68 NBA season.
No big man has ever come close to that mark until Nikola Jokic dropped 8.3 dimes per game this season.
The Joker is widely regarded as the best passing big man in basketball. He reads opposing defenses with ease and creates shots for his teammates like a guard.
#5 Most touches by any player this season
Nikola Jokic is the player with the most touches in the 2021-22 NBA season. He registered 7269 touches, which is 1077 touches higher than the second-ranked person on the list (Russell Westbrook with 6192). For context, this difference in touches is the same between the second-ranked Westbrook (6192) and the tenth-ranked Stephen Curry (5123).
The Joker is arguably the best passing center ever. He controls the entire offense of the Denver Nuggets and has assisted 40.4% of his teammate's field goals.
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Also Read: Top 10 second-round draft picks in NBA history